Thursday, March 2, 2017, ACC Pre-Rally in Quartzsite, AZ

Sam was spoiled with long walks at our last location, so he demanded ever further sojourns along Main Street in Quartzsite. After a couple of early morning walks, I finally remembered to take a camera to capture a little of the town's history. I think the adobe house below was falling apart faster than the preservation society could prop it up. 

The Camel Stop Service Station, next to the original Post Office, gave a little hint at the town's past.

Joani researched the town history and adds: Hi Jolly was born Philip Tedro in 1828 in Smyrna, Greece (which is Izmir, Turkey today) to a Greek mother and a Syrian father. He was an Ottoman Turkish citizen of Greater Syria (a bit confusing). As an adult, he converted to Islam and called himself Hadji Ali which sounded like Hi Jolly to the American ear. He was hired by the US Army to bring camels across the American desert to be used as beasts of burden. The army acquired 33 camels (and later 41 - 44 more) and Hi Jolly was the lead camel driver (after all, the camels didn't speak English) hired to help conduct an experiment in using camels for military use

The experiment failed due to politics and the inability of the horses and mules to forgive their intrusion (camels freaked them out). The camels were auctioned off and/or set free and Hi Jolly bought a few. Hi Jolly lived a long and colorful life, but died in 1902 and was buried in Quartzsite. A few old-timers believe camels still roam the Arizona desert. Two movies, Southwest Passage in 1954 and Hawmps! in 1976 were loosely based on the army's camel experiment.

His remains were interred in the camel topped pyramid in the Quartzite cemetery, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The ACC pre-rally was very nice, but it does seem like we did a lot of eating. The caterer cooked at an outdoor kitchen and worked magic with our meals. There was always too much and I managed to take home leftovers that we warmed up for days (Sam got to sample a little of the breakfast bacon).

The dining hall served as the ACC meeting room, usually right after breakfast before everyone disappeared for a nap.

It was so nice to see Loren and Sharon, Jim and Carmen and Terry and hear their RVing tales.

Before dinner one evening, the "Naked Bookseller" (the evening's entertainment) spent a few minutes checking out the piano that was just carried into the hall. We had that to think about all through our meal - what were we going to see on full stomachs?

As it turned out, Paul Winer's act (aka/Sweet Pie) was very entertaining. He has had more than twenty years to tailor his show to RV audiences and he was never naked (as we have heard he is in his bookstore).

What a hoot!!  Much of his routine revolved around the clothes he was wearing and the interesting life he has led.  His music was boogie-woogie at its best with hilarious lyrics.